A bodyshop bought the infamous Tucker convertible, and is trying to finish the job, and has put it on eBay. The starting bid is $1 million, with the “Buy It Now” price of $5 million. I doubt if they’ll get a single bid.
According to an article in a recent issue of Old Cars Weekly, they bought the car and are working on building it as a way to attract attention their operation. I’m thinking that because they’re offering it for sale on eBay now (and you can see photos of the car in its present state here), that their finances have taken a big hit, and if they don’t get the money soon, they’ll not be around much longer. (Which means that the car will probably wind up selling really cheaply at the bankruptcy auction.)
Wonder how much money one could make selling rides in the thing at car shows?
They couldn’t do it, because they’re convinced that the car’s legit (it ain’t), and would be appalled at the thought of having the unwashed masses climbing around in the thing, or driving it around (since the car has no miles on it). Me? I agree with Leno in that cars, even ultra-rare collector cars, should be driven, so I’d have no problem bringing it to car shows and charging $5 bucks a head for a ride. (Might charge $5 to sit in the car and have your picture taken with it, and then $10 for a ride.)
A million should do it, though if you want to make a promisory note to cover the cost of it at the bankruptcy auction, that’ll work too.
Alex Tremulis and Phil Egan, who were designers for the Tucker Corporation, have both said catagorically that no such vehicle was contemplated by the company at that time. (And Tremulis was the head of the design department, so he should know.) The history of the car is pretty well known, and the original owner bought the body of a four door Tucker at the banruptcy auction, never completed it, and the next owner of the car is the one who spent at least a decade claiming it was a “secret” prototype. People who know more about the car than I do, have been able to track down enough information to prove that most of the parts on the car were purchased by the second owner, and not with it originally.
Hey, the car’s worth something. The club considers #1051 to be a real Tucker, even though it was assembled in the 1980s. The actual value for the convertible is probably around $100K or so (the engine alone is worth around $15K). If I had the money, I’d buy the car, without worrying about ever getting the money back out of it.
My father, who is being passed away, was Minister of Automobiles for the Republic of Barboon. We are most excited to be telling you that he owned the original prototype for the vehicle to be named after its creator’s revered maternal person, the Mother Tucker. (We pull our eyelash with respect).
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